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(National Federation of Federal Employees)

Yesterday, employees in the U.S. Forest Service Human Resources Management (HRM) department in Albuquerque, NM voted in favor of representation by the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE). Nearly 65% of the bargaining unit turned out to vote yesterday, a very high turnout for a union election.

“Yesterday’s victory could not have happened without the hard work and cooperation of many of our union brothers and sisters,” said NFFE National Organizing Director Cassie Kerner. “I am so grateful to everyone who lent a hand on this campaign. Thanks to everyone’s perseverance, the employees of HRM will now have a much-needed voice in their workplace.”

Just one day after the victory at the polls, 26 HRM employees have already joined on as dues paying members. This victory was the result of a lengthy and hard-fought battle to secure representation for approximately 385 employees in the department.

The process began in the spring of 2008, when NFFE began collecting signatures from HRM employees who were interested in union representation. NFFE faced a number of hurdles over the next several months, but eventually was able to finalize a bargaining unit of approximately 385 people last November.

HRM employees in Albuquerque will now be covered by the Master Agreement negotiated by the NFFE Forest Service Council.

Thanks to National Business Representative Gary Johanson, Organizing Director Kerner, Forest Service Council President Ron Thatcher, National Vice President Jozef Drozdowski, IAM Organizer Terri Friend, and the members of NFFE Local 2197 for all of their hard work in this campaign.

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With work wrapped up on the 2010 Defense authorization bill, federal workforce representatives are focusing on what could be the next big fight on Capitol Hill — the civilian pay raise.

The House passed an appropriations bill in July that would give civilian employees a raise of 2 percent — a figure President Obama has supported. The Senate has yet to take up its version of the bill, which includes a 2.9 percent hike. With no vote scheduled on the Senate version, some labor groups are wondering how the issue will be resolved.

Those pushing for a bigger pay hike are hopeful that the 3.4 percent raise for military service members, included in the final version of the Defense authorization bill, will help their chances. The bill passed both chambers and now awaits Obama’s signature. But many consider pay parity among military and civilian workers unlikely.

Full Story

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Today, President Obama signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. Included in the bill was a provision to repeal the controversial National Security Personnel System (NSPS). The bill also contained several small provisions impacting retirement benefits for the federal workforce.

The NSPS provisions in the bill dictate a repeal of the system, and a conversion of the over 200,000 covered employees back into existing pay systems by January 1, 2012. NSPS workers will be guaranteed the full annual GS pay adjustment over the transitional period.

Also included in the Defense Bill are provisions offering employees enrolled in the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) credit for their unused sick leave upon retirement, and extending locality pay to workers stationed outside of the mainland United States – both critical NFFE priorities.

Full Story

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The Senate has passed a bill that would end the National Security Personnel System.(NSPS) and make it more difficult to award sole-source contracts. The measure would authorize spending $550.2 billion on Defense Department programs in fiscal 2010.

On Oct. 22, the Senate approved the fiscal 2010 National Defense Authorization Act’s conference report by a vote of 68 to 29 after the House passed the bill Oct. 8. The legislation now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature. The conference report is a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the same bill.

The report contains an important provision to end the NSPS, a pay-for-performance compensation system for federal employees. The National Treasury Employees Union and others say NSPS curtails employee rights in the workplace, including the right to collective bargaining.

Full Report

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1. House Approves Defense Authorization Bill Repealing NSPS; Senate Nearing a Vote
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Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the conference report on the FY 2010 Defense Authorization Act, which includes provisions to repeal the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) and convert the over 200,000 employees enrolled under the program back into existing pay systems.

The legislation also contains provisions giving retiring employees enrolled in the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) credit for their unused sick leave and extends locality pay to workers stationed outside of the mainland United States.

Full Story

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The ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee quietly offered the amendment that would boot all federal employees, including members of Congress, as well as federal retirees from their current health insurance plans beginning in 2013. For now, it appears that feds have dodged a bullet as the amendment was modified to eliminate the word ‘require’ and replace it with language that says they “may” purchase on the exchange.”

By Jaime L. Hartman Sep 24 2009

Full Article:
Federal Employees Health Benefits Threatened

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It is with great sadness and regret that I confirm the passing of NFFEs beloved national president, Richard N. Brown, who was found unresponsive in his apartment in Arlington, VA yesterday afternoon.  To all who knew him, Rick was a strong leader, a dedicated trade unionist, and a friend.

As national president of NFFE, Rick steered the organization out of a tumultuous period in the 1990s, and into prosperity.  The union saddled with debt when he took office as national president, Rick orchestrated NFFEs affiliation with the Machinists Union (IAMAW), and reorganized internally to get the organizations books in the black, setting the course for renewed prosperity.  In recent years, NFFE was seeing the fruits of that prosperity.  The unions membership has been on the rise and the organization has been realizing success in the policy arena.

Rick was a trade unionist at heart.  He came from a union family and maintained membership in NFFE-IAM and the Laborers Union, the latter being a membership he maintained after leaving construction to become a machinist.  Rick was a strong advocate for federal employees.  Never one to back down, Rick was a strong presence in the fight against several federal workforce initiative aimed at contracting out federal government jobs and eliminating federal employees unions.  His most impressive work was done in opposition to NSPS.  Just last week, Rick gave impassioned testimony in opposition to NSPS before the Task Group of the Defense Business Board, a panel that is conducting a review of the personnel system.

On a personal note, Rick was a great friend.  He was fiercely loyal and supportive to those around him.  He was also tremendously fun to be around, always ready with a joke or an amusing story.  In his passing, we have lost a strong voice and champion for working men and women.  We will mourn his loss greatly.

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“President Obama on Tuesday nominated U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the Supreme Court, tapping the daughter of Puerto Rican parents to succeed retiring Justice David Souter and become the first Hispanic to serve on the high court.

If confirmed by the Senate, the 54-year-old judge will bring nearly 17 years of experience on the federal bench and a history of bipartisan appeal to the high court. She was first appointed to federal bench in the Southern District of New York in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and was named to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton in 1998.

If confirmed by the Senate, the 54-year-old judge will bring nearly 17 years of experience on the federal bench and a history of bipartisan appeal to the high court. She was first appointed to federal bench in the Southern District of New York in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and was named to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton in 1998.

One of her most prominent rulings came in 1995, when she sided with Major League Baseball players in a labor strike that had led to the cancellation of that season’s World Series.

From 1984 until her appointment to the bench, Sotomayor practiced international business law at the New York-based firm of Pavia & Harcourt LLP. There, she focused on intellectual property issues and litigation and arbitration of commercial and commodity export trading cases, according to her appeals court biography.

Later, Sotomayor became a member of the 2nd Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, which was established in 1993 to examine the effect of bias on court employees and litigants. She has also remained active in legal education, serving as an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law from 1998-2007 and as a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School since 1999.”

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104542828

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